The present invention relates to a process for determining and monitoring the shape of the edges of a curved. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for determining the shape of the edges of a curved object and monitoring the latter by comparison with the shape of a standard curved object.
The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the above process.
Frequent use is made, e.g. in the automobile industry, of objects having a generally curved shape. The edges of such objects have a generally complex shape.
And yet it is usually required that the edges of such objects fit exactly on a support, e.g. a metal support having a well-defined shape, so that the object and its support can be assembled simply by gluing. This is particularly true of automobile window sections: windshield and side and rear windows. There is thus a need for a process and apparatus for determining the shape of a curved object in view subsequently comparing the thus-determined shape with a standard shape defined in the specifications.
It will be noted the apparatus carrying out the process should be capable of being readily incorporated in an industrial production line for curved objects and should consequently be able to determine the said shape in a very short space of time, which in practice is on the order of a few seconds.